Naomi Osaka takes part in French Open news conference, admits to nerves year after media holdout, mental health break

PARIS — Naomi Osaka cracked jokes at Roland Garros on Friday — and, yes, laughed at those jokes. She smiled after some reporters' questions. She paused to contemplate, as is her wont, before offering answers.

All of which seemed to confirm this assessment that she offered during an 18-minute pre-tournament French Open news conference, one year after she declared she would avoid talking to reporters and then withdrew before the second round: «For the most part, I think I'm OK.»

Osaka used those words at the end of a lengthy and thoughtful reply about what it was like to come back to a place where her last trip was so much more about her well-being and off-court mindset than her tennis. Which is saying something for a player who already owns four Grand Slam titles and has been ranked No. 1.

«I'm not going to lie. When I first came here, I was very worried. I was just kind of worried if there would be people that — of course, I also didn't like how I handled the situation — but I was worried that there were people that I offended some way and I would just kind of bump into them,» Osaka said, her eyes darting around the room, her words separated by the occasional pause. «But I think everyone has been really positive, for the most part. I'm not really so sure. I was also very worried about this press conference, because I knew I'd get a lot of questions about this.»

Continuing, Osaka said: «For me, where I am right now, I wouldn't want to say — it hasn't left my mind. Of course, I'm still thinking about it.»

Before the 2021 French Open, Osaka vowed to not «do any press during Roland Garros,» framing the matter as a mental health issue and saying it can create self-doubt to have to answer questions after a loss. She stuck to